Melanie Fain

BIO

Melanie Fain’s passion for nature is clearly reflected in her delicate and powerful works of art. For over 25 years, Melanie has brought the beauty and drama of nature to her collectors through the process of Intaglio printmaking, creating etchings of incredible detail and adding her signature touch of watercolor to each one. “I want my work to reflect the simple pleasure of looking at nature and give my viewers something they can connect with.”
In recent years, Melanie has expanded her portfolio and added watercolor artist to her credentials, listing Thomas Aquinas Daly and Thomas Quinn as important influences. The painstaking process of applying watercolor to paper and creating paintings with rich color highlights Melanie’s expertise. Not only does she have the ability to see the complexities of nature; Melanie knows how to bring that beauty to life.

Melanie’s work has been featured in national and international exhibitions including Art and the Animal of the Society of Animal Artists; Birds in Art with the Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin and American Art in Miniature with the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Melanie’s work is included in private and corporate collections across the country and abroad. She is a signature member of Artists for Conservation and the Society of Animal Artists.

Melanie uses solarplate to create her original fine art etchings. The process of solar etching uses a steel plate covered with a light sensitized polymer material. The plate is created by placing a transparency on the plate and exposing it to the sun. It is then developed in water. When the plate is finished it is hand inked and wiped, leaving ink in the areas etched by the sun. A high quality, acid-free paper is applied to the plate and they are run through a flatbed press where the pressure causes the ink to be transferred to the paper creating a mirror-image print of the worked plate. As the printing process is repeated, the prints are hand-colored with watercolor, signed and numbered with the impression number over the total number in the edition. Editions are limited because repeated printing wears down the plate surface. Generally, ten percent of the edition is designated to Artist Proofs. These impressions are used to ensure the quality of the numbered pieces.